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LIST 211 — New & Recent
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WU0KS1 Wu Jiamo comp; Huang Zu carver; Cheng Qilong illus: KONG SHENGJIA YU TU. (Scenes from the Life of Confucius). 孔聖家語圖 。 吳嘉謨 輯， 歙人黃組 鐫 程起龍 繪. N.p., n.d.(c.1589). Comprises folded leaves 3-20 and 22 of the first part of juan 1 showing illustrations and their accompanying texts. 19 full page b/w woodblock illustrations, each accompanied by a page of text. Printed area 21x14. Full size: 29x18cm. 21x14 cm. Stitched. GBP 4,000.00 This single volume comprises the first part of the first juan of an 11 juan work produced in the late Ming dynasty during the Wanli reign (1573-1620). The work describes the life of Confucius and his teachings and is enhanced in the first juan with a total of 40 full page black-and-white woodblock illustrations. This volume, the very first part of the work, contains 19 of the illustrations, on leaves 3-20 and 22 plus their accompanying pages of descriptive text. It is missing the prefatory text and list of contents and illustrations. Also lacking the initial full page illustration of Confucius, the second illustration and the illustration and text on folded leaf 21. The image is printed recto, the accompanying page of text verso. The illustrations were carved by Huang Zu of She (County) in Anhui, She being the former name of Huizhou prefecture, a famous centre of printing in the late Ming dynasty. The illustration of Confucius, the first in the work (not present here) has, at the bottom left of the illustration, the characters: She Ren Huang Zu Juan (Carved by a Man from She, Huang Zu). Thus, Huang Zu came from Huizhou and was undoubtedly part of the pre-eminent and famous Huang family of block cutters. The fact that his name is present in the margin of this image is testament to his standing as an accomplished woodblock cutter and the high quality of this work. Also, given the date of the production of this work, it is likely that Huang Zu was part of the earlier generation of the Huang family of block-cutters, the following generation including the better-known Huang Yiming and others. The illustrations come from drawings or paintings by Cheng Qilong (colophon on the first illustration of Confucius) and it is most pleasing and unusual in a work of this period to be able to attribute the illustrations to a given artist. Cheng Qilong is also known by his alternate name, Cheng Boyang, and was the artist for the illustrations in another Ming dynasty work from the Wanli reign, Nu Fan Bian, which was also carved by members of the Huang family. Little is known about Cheng but a Qing dynasty work (Ming Ren Xiao Zhuan by Cao Rong) cites him as also being a 'She Ren' i.e. also from Huizhou and thus no doubt associated with the studio of the Huang family. As a related aside, it seems to have been the practice in such high quality works that the name/seal of the painter/illustrator and the name of the block carver were placed in the first illustration of a work. The illustrations are remarkable for the finesse of their production and the clarity of the printing. The text characters equally well carved and this must be a very early impression of the work. All text in Chinese. Zheng Zhenduo described it as 'A rare and important work in the history of Chinese woodblock printing'. (Zhongguo Gudai Banhua Congkan) Zhongguo Guji Shanben Zongmu gives two editions, one dated Wanli 17, the second as Ming, but undated, so presumably a little later. No later editions are recorded. An extremely scarce opportunity to own a body of late Ming woodcut illustration within the context of its original work. Moreover, a work in which the painter of the original illustrations and the woodblock cutter can be identified. Moreover, a block cutter from the famous Huang family, active in Huizhou (and probably Nanjing) in the latter part of the Ming dynasty. A very rare combination, particularly in works of this period. Exceptionally rare. Recent covers and front and endpapers of a decent thickness to protect the Ming pages. Recent stitching. The folded pages have been lined in the traditional manner to protect and support them. Minor loss to bottom of margins which at its worst intrudes slightly into the bottom left of the first image. Loss on a couple of pages at the top margin and some waterstaining to the top margins that does not intrude onto the printed area. A number of pages have a vertical waterstain down the centre of the printed pages. An equal number are clean. We are told that the lining, covers and stitching was done in Hong Kong in the 1990s. Provenance: From a Chinese family long resident in London with historic links to a literati-bibliophile family in Shaoxing in Zhejiang province. References: Zhongguo Guji Shanben Zongmu p.785. d Wanli 17 (1589), the second as Ming, but undated, so presumably a little later. No later editions are recorded. Printing & Book Culture in Late Imperial China p. 436 Fig 57. Visible Traces: various pp. to glean info on the Huang family of block-cutters. https://ctext.org/library.pl?if=gb&file=132940&page=17 Subjects: Illustrated Books Rare Books Item 149 in List 211. URL for this record: hanshan.com/?w/WU0KS1.HTM Record produced by Hanshan Tang Books, www.hanshan.com. |